IT IS A FACT: THOSE WHO SMOKE HEAVILY ARE MORE PRONE TO LUNG CANCER

Te Ao Hou, December 1958, Page 4

An announcement from THE N.Z. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IT IS A FACT: THOSE WHO SMOKE HEAVILY ARE MORE PRONE TO LUNG CANCER IN GREAT BRITAIN the proportion of lifelong smokers who will die of lung cancer is something like one in eight. The number of non-smokers who will die of lung cancer is about one in three hundred. IN NEW ZEALAND the death rate is rising. • In 1926 there were nine deaths from lung cancer and the age-adjusted mortality rate was 1.10 per 100,000 • In 1955 there were 286 deaths from lung cancer and the mortality rate was 18.7 per 100,000. • In 1956 deaths numbered 303 and the mortality rate was 19.0 per 100,000. • In 1957 preliminary figures indicate that 347 people died from lung cancer. The risk of death from lung cancer rises in proportion to the number of cigarettes smoked. It is estimated that if a person stops smoking in his early forties his chances of getting lung cancer are reduced by probably half. Giving up smoking reduces the risk • If you are a non-smoker—stay that way • If you are a heavy smoker — cut down or use the less dangerous pipe or cigar • Encourage young people to leave tobacco alone — parents should set the example.